Peace like Bubbles
by AppleL0V3R
Summary: Barely mid-twenties and Sakura's sure she's had a full life—shinobi, marine, shopkeeper—but apparently, she hasn't really lived until she runs across the Red-Hair Rookie. Shanks/Sakura. Naruto/One Piece x-over. Three-shot. Canon divergent (Naruto), Pre-timeline (One Piece). Humor. Pre-relationship.
1. Part One

**Title:** Peace like Bubbles

 **Author:** AppleL0V3R

 **Beta-reader:** N/A

 **Fandom:** Naruto and One Piece

 **Pairing:** Akagami no Shanks and Haruno Sakura

 **Other Characters:** (mentions of) Benn Beckman, Silvers Rayleigh, "Shakky" Shakuyaku

 **Summary:** Barely mid-twenties and Sakura's sure she's had a full life—shinobi, marine, shopkeeper—but apparently, she hasn't really lived until she runs across the Red-Hair Rookie.

 **Word Count:** 2,700

 **Rating:** T

 **Type:** One-shot – Complete

 **Genre:** Canon Divergent (Naruto), Canon Compliant (One Piece), general, pre-relationship

 **Warnings:** Possible spoilers (One Piece: Sabaody Archipelago)

 **Disclaimer:** If you've heard of it before, then it's obviously not mine.

 **Started:** December 4, 2016

 **Completed:** December 15, 2016

 **Notes:** According to _OP_ 's wiki, Shanks is 27 when we first met him (i.e. when Luffy is 7) and by the Ennies Lobby Arc, he's 37 and Whitebeard refers to him as 'the new kid on the block' in terms of being a Yonko. So if my math is right early 30's would mean Shanks has his own crew, is definitely a rookie—as in one of the ones with a 100M+ _beri_ bounty by the New World—but may or may not be one of the Yonko, yet. Or at least, I wouldn't be incorrect at this point in assuming so. Therefore, I think, on grounds of artistic license, I can totally get away with this idea. Also, I've picked Sakura—again—not just because she's my favorite character and I ship her with essentially everybody, but also because she's one of the only female Naruto characters that I see as possibly being in these circumstances (and being shippable with Shanks). Admittedly this kind of grew legs and a brain and, like, ran away with itself. Oops. Enjoy.

* * *

Sabaody Archipelago was a curious place to call home. But of all the places to choose to settle down after the chaos that had been her entire life, Sakura could think of nowhere better.

Especially with the World Nobles so close at hand.

But that was beside the point and hardly her reason for choosing to take up residence in the world's largest mangrove. No, Sakura had chosen the Archipelago for an amalgam of other reasons—the first of which being that it was near navy headquarters. It was also where all the rookies of Paradise funneled through as the last island before crossing into the New World. Not to mention it came with the bonus of being literally on the other side of the world from Konohagakure no Sato and the Shinobi Nations at large.

Didn't hurt that her first ever friend outside the Calm Belt waters surrounding her home, Shakky, had also put down long term roots on this very makeshift island.

It was an easy enough place to get by in. Well, she supposed it was easy as anywhere else on the Grand Line.

In that respect, every island had its own hardships in terms of living conditions. Sabaody's happened to be that it was ground zero for the tyranny that was the _tenryuubito_.

While they had been a nasty surprise the first time she'd learned of them, Sakura now took borderline perverse pleasure and subtly sabotaging them. And really, doing so was almost too easy—a simple genjutsu here, a word there. But her favorite thing had to be screwing with the Auction House.

Sakura had come to accept that the entire world at large was nearly too damaged to stomach, every detail somehow smudging the already grainy picture. Sabaody Archipelago just happened to be the one place where she could truly make a difference without make a name.

She would be the first to admit that joining the marines had not been quite the way to go in pursuance of that particular endeavor. No name grunts had no clout and big name admirals were too tied up in politics and diplomacy due to a system too corrupt to make any real headway in without a complete breakdown and rebuild the likes of which would not be possible any time in the next few dozen years barring something truly momentous. So, she had gotten out pretty quick, barely reaching Vice Admiral in her quest. Being a flat out doctor had not helped. She doubted attempting piracy would—and it was not something she could come back from if things did not pan out.

That left, well, _this_.

Which was to say, keeping the casualties of the narcissistic World Nobles to a minimum in a way that even being a marine had not allowed for. Rules. Authority. Why, exactly _had_ joining the Navy seemed like a good idea after the horror of Danzo's reign? Frowning at the thought, Sakura shook her head.

Ruminations were best left for times when she did not have work to do. Granted, tuning a piano was a long and tedious affair no matter the circumstances; she could still be using the think time on other more pertinent matters. Like the fact that another up-and-coming Rookie was in their midst. According to Shakky, the brat—not so much a brat given the fact that he was probably at least a few years her senior—used to be a cabin boy aboard the Oro Jackson along with Rayleigh. The Dark King had snorted, but admitted that this Rookie had potential. High praise from a man like him, she knew.

There was also the matter of the festival coming up that she was nowhere _near_ ready for. How many instruments did she have to ready? Five? Six? Not to mention the fact that she had not practiced any of the pieces with the exception of a couple run-throughs. Sighing, she refused to even contemplate all the menial work that went into prepping the shop and readying for the post-festivities matters. None of which even touched on the day-to-day…

Swearing under her breath, she felt like she finally understood why Kakashi was perpetually late and Tsunade had been squirrelly as all get out about paperwork. Being an adult was tough. Responsibilities were a hell of a load. But mostly? She just felt like she was getting to old to have five thousand projects going at once. Maybe she should ease off? This _was_ meant to be her retirement. It was supposed to be _fun_ , not wearying busywork.

Even as she considered the merits of downsizing, she heard the wind chimes she'd placed just outside the front door of her shop on the floor beneath her apartment. The vast majority of visitors didn't account for the fact that the moment of the door caused the air to move just enough to stir the wind chimes. In most cases, she found the subtle warning it to be an unnecessary precaution. But after growing up under the daily dangers of the shinobi lifestyle and then compounding it with the knowledge of the Grand Line that the marines had gained her, she figured that as the saying went: better safe, than sorry.

A single set of footsteps pattered lightly across the recently varnished wood of the floor below and she half considered playing a game with herself that she had learned in her first year of the academy. Guess the guest. But even as she parceled out the information on hand she knew that it would both rude and remiss of her to keep her customer waiting for longer than needed. So she hummed to herself and put down the tools she'd been using on her baby grand—the first instrument she'd bought when she'd settled in this place, though not the first one she'd learned to play—before heading for the stairway that connected her living room to the shop's backroom.

Rather than calling to the man below—judging by the weight of his steps and the gait he walked at, as well as the lack of perfume or other feminine scents—she merely made for the stairs on silent bare feet. She may not be willing to leave someone unattended in her shop but she hardly saw the harm in playing the game while she could. Halfway down the staircase she heard the susurration of fabric the kind sturdy but worn cloth made when it rubbed against itself and the soft _thunks_ of leather boots against her floorboards. She could feel the presence of him, one she was familiar with though she had not felt it in a while—unassuming yet commanding. Somewhere between potentially infectious and potentially frightening. By the bottom of the stairs and few paces from the closed door that lead to her shop, she heard soft humming from a deep voice and the occasional note from one of the instruments decorating the galley.

Even before she got to the door, she noticed the brief pause and by the engrained use of chakra sensing, she knew her guest had gone still and she would wager he had turned towards the door she'd just laid her hand on. Sakura breezed into the back portion of her cozy shop, eyes adjusting almost immediately to the contrast of going from the dark backroom to the light pastels and sun shining through large bay windows. She'd down her shop in a palette of dove greys and petal pinks and seafoam green to go with the lovely red oak hardwood.

Speaking of contrast. The man looked almost out of place in the middle of her shop; from his stark cherry red hair to the deep black of his coat. There was no mistaking the identity of her customer, but she postponed the implications of that in favor of taking in the sight before her. Red-Haired Shanks of the Red Hair Pirates was a sight to see and he stuck out like a sore thumb in her homey little music shop.

*.*.*

The Red Hair Pirates docked on Sabaody Archipelago sometime around midday and from there it was fairly easy to find Shakky's Rip-Off Bar—the first place Shanks knew to start looking for Silvers Rayleigh, former first mate of the Roger Pirates and one of the few crewmates Shanks never fell out of touch with. Rayleigh had been the one to encourage Shanks to build his own crew and sail for the New World all over again—this time on his own steam and without the attachment of Gol D. Roger or any of the fantastical people he had met aboard the Oro Jackson.

And given his current Rookie status and the strength of his own crew, Shanks would always be some level of grateful for the role Rayleigh had played in getting Shanks from untrained cabin boy to feared pirate captain.

Naturally meeting up with his former crewmate and his wife made for a round of fun introductions, a few shared of drinks, and most importantly the promise of a party upon the completion of the coating of the Red Force for making it through the first half of the Grand Line and for the adventures ahead in the New World. Granted, he was half-sure that his first mate was more concerned about the fact that they were indeed getting their ship coated by someone who knew what they were doing than he was that the crew would be invited to helping themselves to Shakky's alcohol and establishment. There was a reason Benn Beckman was the first mate, though Shanks was of the opinion that the gunslinger was a bit of a stick in the mud.

But with all the essentials squared away, there was no reason not to venture further across the gigantic mangrove—especially since they would be docked for the next three days and would have to find ways to entertain themselves in the interim.

There was an amusement park that took up the space of about ten groves and everything in the vicinity seemed worth at least taking a look at. There was also a grouping of about ten groves to the south and another group to the east were not specifically for tourists and would be rife of mercenaries, pirates, pirate hunters and the occasional shop the might also be worth a looksee. Shakky had specifically mentioned a cozy little music shop run by a musician who was relatively new to the area but definitely worth his time.

Shakky was a fairly good judge of such things, so he figured that would be the first thing on his to-do list. Who knew, he could probably even get himself a musician out of the deal—he certainly did not have one of those yet.

The shop was located almost halfway between the groves designated for tourists and the ones occupied by the marine base. And right in the heart of trouble.

Despite that, the two story building gave off the sense of serenity and home. Shanks could not help but smile. Rare was the place in this world that could make a complete stranger feel a sense of home and hearth, could inspire calm and ease just by existing. As a man who enjoyed drinking and partying and all around good cheer, it was almost a novelty. And it said a lot about the proprietor.

He absently noted the glass wind chimes hanging along both side of the simple portico, they were neither extravagant nor boring. But they were hardly for decoration—he would bet that the store owner used them like door bells. A theory that proved true when the act of opening the door caused a few of them to jingle a little. Not a particularly loud sound, no alarm by any means, but audible enough to be caught by a trained ear. His smile grew.

Was the musician the prepared type, then? Or paranoid? It was a subtle early warning system, so he would bet it was the former.

The inside of the shop, given the presence of it from the outside, was unsurprisingly pleasing. Done up in soft tones, it emphasized the instruments hanging on the walls or strategically placed around the debatably small room. He found himself gravitating towards the area where it looked like a piano had been but no longer stood. Along the way he could not help but reach out and touch the strings of a well taken care of violin and hum the notes of a common pirate song he never heard the name of.

As he reached the spot of the missing piano, he unconsciously turned in the direction of the back door when his _Kenbunshoku_ Haki picked up the presence of another person coming from that direction. A second later, the door opened to reveal a young woman with long pink hair and green eyes that widened slightly when they landed on him. She recovered quickly with a smile and eyes that warmed as they returned to normal; and then she finished crossing the threshold and closed the door behind her.

He tipped his head towards the empty space and smiled back at her, "What happened to the piano?"

Her eyes followed the movement to the indicated spot before flicking back to him, "Tuning. Lot easier to do that when I don't have people underfoot and such."

Shanks faked a pout, "Aw, and I was told you're an excellent pianist."

Sakura chuckled and ducked her head, clearly not accustomed to praise. "Yes well, not even the world's best pianist can play well with an out-of-tune instrument. I'm sure it would be something like sword fighting with a broken blade."

Feeling his amusement grow at the casual relation to the favored saber at his waist. Given that Shakky and by extension Rayleigh had been the ones to vouch for her, Shanks supposed he should not be surprised that she was comfortable around swordsmen, and probably fighters in general. She walked towards the back counter, not quite slipping behind it, but leaning against it as she continued to regard him. "I should have it tuned by twilight though—I'm sure whoever recommended my musical skill mentioned that I play right around that time."

He nodded, half distracted with the pose she had struck: slim waist emphasized in a black skirt that revealed her long lean legs from thigh to toe, and a skin tight red shirt that left her arms bear but emphasized her slim body rather than the fact that she did not have a large bust. He recognized the direction of his thoughts and considered it for a moment. If he really wanted her to join his crew, then he should probably avoid making it awkward. Did not mean he could not look, he was only human after all and she was certainly a looker.

"She did, she also mentioned that you'll be in the festival a few days from now."

Another smile, this one caught somewhere between anxious and exasperated. "I am. Assuming I get everything done by then." The last part came out more mumbled, like it was directed at herself. Then she shrugged, "With any luck, the pieces I have planned live up to expectation."

The redhead watched as she pushed away from the desk and crossed the few steps in between them. Her intelligent green eyes watching him curiously as she approached. When she was within arm's reach she held out her hand, "Forgive me, I've forgotten to introduce myself. I'm Haruno Sakura."

He froze in the action of reaching out to complete the handshake as soon as he heard her name. "Haruno Sakura, former Vice Admiral of the Navy, Haruno Sakura?"

She blinked, shrugged again, and finally nodded. "Key word there would be former, Akagami no Shanks, captain of the Red Hair Pirates and former member of the Roger Pirates."

Tension broken, he let out a laugh and clasped her hand. "I suppose it would Miss Haruno." Shanks decided right then that she would be a great addition to the crew.

The smile returned, easy and lazy, "Just Sakura, please. I'm tired of titles."


	2. Part Two

**Beta-reader:** N/A

 **Part:** Two

 **Word Count:** 3,460

 **Type:** Three-shot – Incomplete

 **Disclaimer:** If you've heard of it before, then it's obviously not mine.

 **Started:** December 18, 2016

 **Completed:** February 8, 2016

 **Note:** The summary of Peace like Bubbles was written with more ideas in mind than what was posted in the one-shot. So since I received so much wonderful feedback on it, I'm doing a sequel. (Obviously since this is getting posted.) Or rather, I suppose I'm turning it into a three-shot—since I can't seem to keep my creations at their intended one-shot-ness. And honestly, depending on how I feel about it, it might also get like an actual sequel or an afterwards sort of thing. We'll see. Additionally, to those that I promised it would be up on the 7th, I'm super sorry. I knew the holidays were going to be a whirlwind for me and my decompression time took on the form of horror movies that ended in me procrastinating my butt off (and then I started back to school wherein my decision to take not one but _two_ language classes on top of a normal course load bit me in the ass). Whoops. In my defense, this sucker ended up being much longer than I originally planned (probably because my style is more introspection/exposition rather than action/dialogue). And, yes, there will be a part three. I got to a certain point and didn't think it would flow well if I tried to mash the ending that I had planned for this monstrosity onto it. So yeah. Again, sorry for being literally a month late—hopefully the promise of more will make up for it.  
And yes, yes, I did do research on pianos—baby grands specifically, so bear with me and hopefully I did not confuse anyone as to the size/dimensions/heft of a small baby grand. For those of you who are curious, it's 3½ft tall, 5ft by 6ft (roughly) and five hundred some pounds.  
Also, I feel like the style/pacing/atmosphere is different from the first part. Probably because I wrote the majority of it listening to 'Bottom of the River' by Delta Rae. Hopefully that is either my imagination or not too jarring. Enjoy.

* * *

The festival, as fate would have it, was when everything when wrong. It would be the very event that Sakura would later point to as another huge turning point in her life. The first when she had officially become a genin for the Hidden Leaf Village, the next when her world was ripped apart and her home turned into a crater in the ground. And the final one would be when she had been forced to do something terribly unjust in the name of justice.

At each turn she had become something else. At each turn her world views and personal identity had shifted.

Sakura liked to believe each one was for the better.

This shift however, was one she knew was less about her changing and more about a need for change. Her perceptions unaltered, no great personal injustice wrought—but a shift all the same. After all, for someone who had been many things but stayed clear of piracy, joining a pirate crew was undeniable a turning point.

And the festival had definitely been a bust of epic proportions. Starting with the damn piano. Which was not really a fair thing to blame considering, but arguably fairer than blaming Shanks for the Red-Haired Pirates' role in the whole mess, in Sakura's opinion.

The piano, which she had managed to tune not long after Shanks left her shop— _after_ the redhead had managed to persuade her to agree to play for him and him alone before he left the Archipelago. She hardly saw the harm in agreeing to such an earnest request, and the man was infectious besides. When she thought about it, he reminded her a bit of Naruto, happy and easily excited. And that grin. It usually made whatever pain or exasperation she had to put up with worth it.

As long as the Rookie did not get her into more trouble then she knew how to get out of, she figured she could deal with the parallels.

In the meanwhile, have properly tuned her chosen instrument for the festival, she settled in to get some practicing done. And, nearly the rest of the day later, she found herself frowning something fierce when the piece absolutely refused to come together the way the sheet music indicated that it should. But then again playing with all fingers moving and spread out for the majority of the piece—which was several minutes long itself—was probably something she would have to give her fingers time adjust to. And repetition. Lots and lots of repetition.

For despite being one her favorite instruments and the first she'd learned to play, she had comparably precious little practice on the giant percussion. She certainly did not have the experience level to be playing something the likes of which she intended to for the festival. But when had she ever stayed in comfort zone for anything? Not since she was genin, wet behind the ears and with powerhouses for teammates to catch up to.

Then, because twilight was quickly approaching and she wanted to get more done before her dusk audience appeared—and she could not help but idly wonder if Shanks would be among them since she _had_ technically invited him—and there was far too much to be done. Thankfully her quant little shop remained presentable and all of the show pieces required little polishing to make them shine. After closing the curtains to large storefront windows and leaving a sign on the door that she would reopen shortly, she set to the task of moving the relatively piano back down to the first floor. An easy task considering that her baby grand was not remiss in either size nor weight, and it took little maneuvering to not bang it up getting it down the sizable stairwell.

Once it was on the lower level, she drew the curtains back once more and took down the sign before heading for the backroom where she worked on new pieces, the door between the store and the room left wide open so she could easily call to any customers who happened by. And given how little time was between then and twilight, she was sure that someone would happen by to hear her playing—someone always did. But she figured she could finish up the base for two of the instruments she had to make. If she worked quickly, she could probably even mostly finish the two commissions that were scheduled to be picked up the morning of the festival.

Really, she only had a handful of works to finish in a hurry and one was already done, and the others were simple requests. A full day was more than she would need. But the quicker she got them out of the way, the more time she had to devote to other projects. The spring cleaning would take up the morning, she figured, the errands were for the early afternoon. Two violins tonight, a _koto_ after the errands and then the final one—a harp. There would be the need for breaks in between, and customers to account for, so she could probably start rearranging and prepping the shop for festival sales. She had the necessary amount of works to put on display ready. And the furniture to help back it look good. Well, no, she still had to change the carpeting and get a new bookcase for the instruction manuals, both easy fixes if she remembered to get to them in a timely manner, but otherwise it was good to go.

So what did that leave, she wondered as she soaked the carved sandalwood piece that would become the side of the first violin. The day-to-day, a given. An invitation to a lunch with the new Admiral Aokiji, one she had no intention of rejecting on grounds of having befriended him even before she joined the marines nearly a decade previously.

Building bridges. It was a skill she had learned from Naruto; one she maintained as form of remembrance and tribute.

Smiling at the memory of the blond-haired, blue-eyed brat who remained one of her favorite people, she continued to mold and shape the wood. Some of her earliest works had bits of chakra in them due to having learned how to woodwork with her wood release abilities, but now she did them completely without chakra. Somedays she went without using chakra at all and those always felt somewhere between accomplishments and estrangements.

After all, her chakra was _hers_. It was like spurning a tool because of the hands it had once been held in. And at the same time, it proved that it was a way of life she could live without. A remnant of another life and nearly another world entirely. Almost literally given that the Five Great Shinobi Nations were located on an island in the New World, not too far from Reverse Mountain. Her lips twitched at the sense of comingling nostalgia and homesickness.

She missed her home. But she would never return to _Hi no Kuni_ 's shores as long as they remained under Danzo's regime.

The sound of her wind chimes jingling in the breeze brought her out of her musings enough for her full attention to return to her surroundings. She almost refocused on the half-made string instrument given the source of the moving chimes, the continuous breeze that picked back up, before she realized that dusk was on the horizon and she had a visitor.

Sakura was a little disappointed at the absence of the redhead but smiled all the same as she reentered the storefront. Her guest was a new face, square and serious with shoulder-length, greying sable hair and garbed in simple attire—but for the yellow sash and the long flintlock rifle holstered in it. She remembered Shanks wearing a similar simple getup with a red silken looking sash. She would have wondered if that was common among pirates—and unless she was losing her touch, this guy _was_ a pirate—or if it was a crew thing, like she saw every now and again.

Ultimately, the identity of the guy did not matter to her so long as he was not here to cause trouble.

He gave a small nod in acknowledgement of her greeting and turned to browse about the shop. Considering she had forgotten to put up her usual sign to denote that she was playing and not actually taking customers, she would hardly be able to turn him away if he was indeed there as a customer. Somehow, she doubted that though, and made for the recently tuned, pastel pink baby grand.

Rather than her normal haunting musical style, she decided to try her hand at a piece more like those she would be playing for the festival. It moved at a faster pace and had fewer notes per measure, but was still easily categorically similar. While she never turned to look at his reception of the piece, she did feel his eyes land on her a few times, and assumed that the piece was liked enough for him to stay and continue to browse even when she started in on another piece.

She was also aware of two more entering the shop, and she glanced up briefly to greet them with a welcoming smile before returning her attention to the piece. She did not miss the fact that they both also wore sashes. Must be a crew thing then since the two were also undoubtedly pirates.

While it was hardly uncommon to have pirates as customers, to have four from the same newly arrived crew—captain included—within hours of each other was some sort of record. Or at least remarkable. Strangely, it made her smile. Her marine training taking a backseat to her original shinobi training. As a kunoichi, taking the time to learn and observe from those not like her—especially those who were good at what they did—was generally encouraged. And it was yet another old practice that she had not kicked, but only because it had served her well.

And when she finished with the full fall of night, she got three pairs of farewells that included her given name. The one she had asked Shanks to call her by that afternoon. Still smiling, she returned the farewell, emphasizing their affiliation with the Red Hairs. It earned her three variations of smiles in turn.

They left her with the feeling that she had passed some sort of test, though she could not imagine what. And rather than stay to ponder it, she reminded herself that she had violins to finish and other instruments to begin.

* * *

Much to his own disappointment, Shanks did not manage to return to the little music shop with the pretty musician until the festival. Between Old Man Ray and his crew, he had his hands full—especially in the department of not getting arrested. He and a few members of his crew had come all too close to crossing the World Nobles barely a full day into their stay at Sabaody Archipelago.

If it had not been for Rayleigh and the innocent bystanders, Shanks would have gotten himself into far more trouble than his crew was currently equipped to handle. Not that he would have been the least bit sorry, or his crew the least bit put out. Instead of making a terrible situation worse—after all, there were fights not worth picking, and then there were battles that required forethought before being staged—the red-haired pirate promised himself that one day, their tyranny would end.

The three days passed almost in a blur with how quickly they proceeded after his visit to the pink-haired shopkeeper and the subsequent visit of a few members of his crew throughout their stay. All of them agreeable, including his cautious first mate, to the former vice admiral joining them so long as she was loyal and trustworthy. And most had judged her thus, given her warm and easygoing reception of each of them no matter when they visited or who they entered the modest shop with. He was glad for not having the worry about mutiny in the case of asking her to join—though he still had yet to actually invite her aboard his ship, and she certainly had not agreed.

He was still counting it as progress.

After all, with the ship coated, next stop was Fishman Island, territory of the Whitebeard Pirates, and then the rest of the New World. As an original member of the Roger Pirates, Shanks was in no hurry to make either a name for himself or to conquer any part of the New World. His crew, favorable lot that they were, seemed perfectly content to simply explore the rough seas of the second half of the Grand Line. To experience the wonders, to adventure though the islands, facing challenges and having fun.

And partying. There would be lots of partying if Shanks had his way.

Without delusions of grandeur and no need for conquest that freed him and his crew up to simply enjoy life on the high seas, doing what they set sail for in the first place and making the most of each day. He knew others would see it as a lack of ambition, had already been taunted with such fallacies, but Shanks had what he wanted. And much the way Whitebeard already had his treasure well in hand, Shanks had everything he wanted.

Except for a musician, of course. But that, it seemed, would smooth itself out.

The festival had been a prime opportunity to ask her to join his crew, as far as he was concerned. She had promised a private performance—though, admittedly not the kind that had been on his mind since he first laid eyes on her—at the festival before she had to play officially for the whole of the Archipelago. Haruno Sakura was nothing like the average vice admiral—or former vice admiral—he had been running into for over a dozen years.

Open minded and easygoing, Sakura seemed to prize individuality and fairness over the marine creed of absolute justice. Her world, like many of the pirates who had some experience under their belts, was far from black and white, good and evil, right and wrong. He got the sense she looked at necessity and situations rather than absolutes and the bland ideology powering the marine versus pirate feud. Rare was the marine he ever ran into with a soul.

It made him curious as to why she had settled in the Archipelago, ground zero of the _tenryuubito_ and next door neighbors with Marie Josie and Marineford Headquarters.

Even in the fallout of the festival, the answer did not become clear.

The festival was scheduled to truly get underway closer to midafternoon, giving the people of the giant mangrove and all tourists currently docked there the chance to prep and attend. Sakura herself would not be playing until nightfall, though Rayleigh had mentioned that Sakura did not perform her usual haunting pieces during these festivals. Rather she played energetic pieces threaded with life and levity.

A musician with life and heart in her music would be a perfect for his crew. A necessity even given the role such a character would play.

He might not be looking for Raftel, but he knew exactly what he wanted out of the Grand Line at this stage and what preparations would be necessary for the hardships ahead. And Sakura with her heart and intelligence and ability to carry a host of tunes, would be serve as sort of glue for the crew. A balm. His crew was well made and full of competent pirates capable of working together in any set up or even left alone to their own devices. But he hardly saw the harm in bringing in someone who would help grow those ties and bring unity and comfort to the ship as needed through her music.

They had agreed on sometime around midday so they both would have the chance to ready for the day, and he would have enough time to prepare to sail after the crew had their fill of the festival. And as many of the preparations were already well underway, and would be set by the time late evening rolled around, he saw no harm in moseying on over to the shop a little before noon.

When he reached Groove 18, it was to find a closed sign hung on the door of the little shop, but he could see the pink-haired woman bustling about inside and had no qualms about knocking on the window pane to gain her attention. She turned a split second before he got the chance to knock, a smile stretching her lips as he did so. She was still juggling three cases when she opened the door for him, as she had hurried over and apparently forgotten to set them down in her haste.

He laughed as he slipped past the threshold and stole one of the cases, a violin case if he had to guess, from her as he passed by. Her own laugh chasing him further into the cozy place. "Thank you, Shanks. Time got away from me and realized I forgot to get all of the instruments into cases before the start of the festival."

The redhead shrugged, unbothered by helping the deceptively petite woman. "No problem, at least you got all of them made on time, right?"

She heaved an exasperated sigh that told him without words that even that was more of a 'just barely' before she nodded. "Yep. Seems like I bite off more than I can chew every year about this time. It's like the energy of the festival allows me to fool myself into thinking I can accomplish more than I actually can." She punctuated her comment with a helpless shake of her head another, smaller, shrug of her shoulders.

"Nah, I'd wager everyone is guilty of getting caught up in doing what they love every once in a while." He knew he certainly did when it came to pirating and sailing the high seas. And booze—his crew had run out of booze more times than he cared to count when they had first started out.

Sakura shot him a smile, mirth twinkling in her green eyes as she accepted his reassurance for what it was. Carefree and easy going. "I suppose that's true, too." With a quirk of her lips she seemed to consider something as she looked at him. Whatever it was, it ended with her jerking her head towards the pink piano. "Now, I do believe a promised you a solo. Is it safe to assume you're here to collect?"

Surprise flickered briefly, before he decided to simply go with it. It would give him the chance to ask her to join his crew after all. As he followed after her to the bench, pristine white rather than matching pink, he could not help but inquire, "Do you only play piano?" It would be tough to get even a small baby grand on the ship let alone find somewhere to put it. Not to mention possible water damage.

Her eyes flicked to his before she returned to scanning the sheet music she had left there. "No, it's my favorite," Her hands—long fingered and delicate looking—settled on the white keys, pressing one to test the sound of the note. "But I also play violin, a little bit of guitar and theharp. I haven't had the opportunity to learn much else, though." Again she glanced at him, as she started in on the opening measure of the song.

Shanks took that as his queue to simply enjoy the sweet melody she had chosen. It was easygoing and carefree—lacking in haunting undertones or bouncy overtures.

By the second time she played the chorus, he had stood and begun to meander around the shop. Content to listen and observe in time to the quiet tune. And when it drew to a close he looked back at her with a teasing smile, "It's too bad you're the one playing, otherwise I'd ask you to dance."

She returned the gesture with a measured look over her shoulder and sound in the back of her throat that bordered on contemplative. "Would you, then?" At his nodded, her own bobbed decisively, "Then I will hold you to that. After all, I am not the only musician playing at the festival tonight."

Right then he decided he would save his offer for the festival and simply enjoy this time listening to her music and sharing companionship.


End file.
